You should know this.  The reason you should know this is because I may come across as someone who has never had beer before.  If I’m being very honest with myself, I hate beer.  It may be because of my taste for the sweet, and that beer comes across to me as so bitter – like nasty bread or something.  Today I praise God that He has delivered me though from believing in some way that beer in itself is evil.

I love my parents, but they were fed a line of crap all their lives from a group of overly pious religious leaders who, in the early part of the 20th century, teamed up with an overly pious group of feminists, to launch an incredible attack on anything “pub” driven.  This of course trickled down to me as a child.

Enter yesterday.  I attended a party of a group of people who love Jesus and who drink beer.  I didn’t drink the beer.  Remember, I think it tastes like nasty bread most of the time.  But I did appreciate the relational nature the beer brought to the party.  I know there’s a lot of whatifs involved in the subject conversation of beer – “What if”someone’s an alcoholic?  “What if” we cause someone to stumble?  These are important questions that should not be ignored, but by-in-large the same people who highlight this piousness choose to ignore  the waste that goes on in America or never see the problem with attending the  buffet and stuffing themselves silly on a regular basis.

The way I see it, if Jesus were at the party I attended yesterday, his interest would have nothing to do with what the people were drinking or eating, but he would have looked at their hearts, and started from that point.

Oh yeah, and he probably would have thought beer tastes like nasty bread.

Yesterday was another great day at Fellowship Church.  We had an outdoor service (pics below), and a potluck dinner, complete with football, wiffleball, basketball, slip and slide, group sings around a big oak tree, and whatever else people found to do.  Here are some highlights for me during the “Party in the Park”:

*We focused on Psalm 107 and started a new series called “Nature lover”, referring to falling in love with who God is, and not what He can do for us.
*All week and even to that morning, people asked me “What do we do if it rains”, and I responded, “It doesn’t rain during the Party in the Park.”  So there were people praying all week.  I learned this lesson from my friendship with this church in 1996.
*Our volunteers did an amazing job setting everything up and preparing for the event!  Fellowship rocks!
*The band was amazing!  Playing a mini concert of songs from Lifehouse, Coldplay, Steve Fee, and Delirious.  They even read Scripture for the service!
*The “Best Thing” Project – awesome!  We’ve already heard some great stories about how God is using this, and we’d like to hear more. 
*The best story I’ve heard so far with my own ears is how this family helped a woman  in our church fix the muffler system on her car with a hanger wire, then gave someone else their money to go get the parts she needs and he fixed her car!  Unbelievable!
*The party afterwards was great!  Although my face, neck, and bald spot (how times are changing) are now burnt.  So much for the rain!
Here are some pics!

The band practicing before the service started

The back row enjoying the service. 

The preacher bringing it.

I was a recipient of what came from this sweet grill!

Sue set up shot and chilled through the afternoon.

This young one chilled too – slip and slide style.

How was your weekend?